Nice catch! Step 1: Cut it out Step 2: Iron it Step 3: Give it higher grade.........to the unsuspecting buyer
Series 1928 $50 Gold Certificate graded PMG Very Fine 30 Net (closed pinholes in and around the portrait) sold at the 2012 January Signature FUN Currency auction has been reborn into a "Gem AU" super crisp, no rips, tears, or pinholes note. The new version:
By coincidence, jimrob23 sent an Email message to me this morning to inform me of some notes he has for auction. I sent a reply asking him who cut the note out of the PMG holder and how the grade improved by 30+.
Reply from eBay: "We're sorry that we weren't able to deliver your message to jimrob_lt6897lbj@members.ebay.com."
how can they fix tears and pinholes though? Wouldn't that be obvious to someone? Just curious because I didn't realize they could do that
They use Japanese hinging tissue paper. It's an art... mostly used for conservationists... and ebay note doctorers? http://www.universityproducts.com/cart.php?m=product_list&c=582 Here's a whole article on it. http://www.nedcc.org/resources/leaflets/7Conservation_Procedures/03RepairingPaperArtifacts.php It's sometimes worth it, when the note is extremely rare and is barely in one piece. Otherwise, I think it's sleazy.
Is this type of doctoring detectable by the average person, say when held up to a light? .. And is it detectable from the TPG's?
I'm guessing the repairs would probably go undetected by the average person, but rarely by the TPG's. The 1928 $50 Gold Certificate graded by PMG as 30 was a NET grade with a notation on the back of the holder describing closed pinholes. If you are a novice to grading, and/or are looking to buy a higher end note, hire an auction rep, or buy a note already graded by a reputable TPG.
Courtesy of currencycounter, here's another example of a doctored note. Series 1896 $2 Silver Certificate graded PCGS Fine 15 sold in a Lyn Knight auction at CPMX 2012, Session 3 for $750.00: The note is reborn as a "highgrade" note with "no holes, rips, tears, splits or staining to detract from is great eye appeal.This is a litely circulated note, with some difficult to see folds":
Wow! Quite a bit lighter, but MUCH better looking as for the folds and dirty borders. Dang clay, you might be my new best friend!
Are there any ways to protect ourselves from buying ungraded doctored notes? My only thought is to buy them in the graded holders, but I don't like to pay the large premiums they command.
It would help if you mentioned what kind of notes you are trying to buy like this so we can talk about your question with more specific examples... The best protection is education. Know what you are buying, and if you are into high value collectibles or rarities, that education as well as only buying notes you can inspect in person before you lay out any money, will protect you, even better than a plastic sheath around a note sealed by a TPG. If you can't view in hand what you are buying, then as mentioned already, you will need to pay the price of a professional who carries your criteria around and helps locate what you are looking for. You either pay for that over the market value of the notes the dealer sells them to you or you throw some degree of trust that a TPG flagged any 'doctoring' they detected by not certifying the notes or by indicating alterations on their holders. The cheapest way is to educate yourself about these things and to buy only what you know to be free of these things after you have seen the note in hand. A TPGs guarantee has a limit and cannot catch everything all the time.
Sound advice. I have made a few good bets on ebay by searching newly listed items and picking up undervalued notes. Similarly, I have overpaid for a note that was over-graded by the seller. My collection is only beginning, and my most recent and most expensive acquisition was a 1907 $10 Gold Cert in EF (http://www.cointalk.com/t206623/). If someone doctors a note by making creases less noticeable, by ironing it for example, does that actually devalue the note? Does sealing up pinholes increase or decrease the value of the note? I seem to think it increases the value of the note to a degree, if the collector is looking for eye appeal over originality. I mean, there's a huge market for restorations of all kinds of antiques. But although doctoring might increase the looks, it certainly may not increase its grade. I guess it depends on the goals of the collector, and the balance between eye appeal and originality. If it were all about eye appeal, we might as well buy $2 high res copies on ebay.
Yes and no. Yes, such alteration, devalues a note when it's not done absolutely convincingly to a prospective buyer or TPG who, upon inspection, becomes aware of the alteration(s) before making a purchase or deciding to encapsulate a given altered/conserved note. Because a collector/dealer or TPG then avoids acquiring the 'problem' note its value can't increase since its 'conservation' didn't pass the scrutiny nor deceive those who may be willing to place higher value on a note. Most collectors who can scrutinize well enough to uncover 'problems' or questionable surfaces, do so by observing problems with notes in hand before buying such items that may be of significant value. I am talking of high value notes and rarities, the likes that might drive up a notes market premium if condition/grade were deemed higher and made available to buyers. I am talking about those notes which inspire those who conserve/doctor collectibles, to take these chances. So then, the NO part of this response to the value question, is that when the altered note passes into a collectors hands or slips by a TPG and ends up in a protective sleeve with a grade and certification behind it, and makes its way into collections of dealers or individual collectors who are unaware of the problems or placed blind faith in a grade on a holder or opinion of another collector/dealer, then the value can realize increased 'value' because they are buying as if it were original surfaces. TPGs scrutinize paper for originality and hidden conservation before assigning their guarantee to notes, but their screening could on rare occasion fail too it should seem plausible given questionable examples we have seen or discussed in grading discussion. If that happens, and a note ends up encapsulated or in a collection, the only thing beyond further scrutiny and knowledge of such very good and deceptive alterations is, time. Time will tell if the work of the 'conservator' remains unseen for the life of the collectible. If multiples of years pass and the work is never apparent due to materials aging, then no one may ever know work was done on a note, for it may have been done professionally and remain unseen. Time and exposure to light and humidity levels, which facilitate decay, may cause materials to change appearance at sites where work was done poorly-- and the collectible value we perceive would too quickly erode in due course. Many people look at numismatics like a form of art that they collect and admire, yet they come to abhor and admonish the thought of alteration, cleaning, repairing or restoring such collectibles. Yet, professional art restoration aids in the benefit and longevity of major art works done in all mediums. Such conservators have significant academic and scientific degrees among a bevy of materials skills and experience to help manage and protect works of art on paper, such as prints in art collections, like intaglio prints-- the same methods of printing used to create much of the history of paper currency. Such conservators save documents of cultural and religious history from ancient papyrus to embossed metal plates like the dead sea scrolls. At some point, some professional conservation may be a necessity to preserve rarities. The thing to work to prevent are the skilled turning to profit off the uneducated, which is why as collectors we have to understand and view for ourselves what it is we collect. We cannot trust digital images and online auction sellers' claims to originality and authenticity lest we have a return policy or absolute trust in the other party from reputation or prior experience that they will not con us in this manner of sales. We just have to be on our toes, as Clay has shown in this thread, he is all over it!
